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It's just a life, but its all mine and I love it!

Saturday, 1 September 2012

Crocheting at a Restaurant

Looped

I've been part of a crochet and knitting group for a little while now. A group of mostly ladies who mostly didn't know each other before, but drawn together by the desire to talk to someone about wool and not have them attempt suicide as a way to end the conversation.

The group is called Looped and I think started off in a bookshop called Can Do Books. It's advertised on MeetUp, is open to anyone and attracts people from all over Melbourne.

We meet at the bookshop with tea and biscuits, at the pub with our favourite tipple and occasionally at people's houses with whatever we bring along. All these venues are great in different ways.

The one I had not yet made it to, because it is held on a Wednesday night and there is plenty of family stuff to keep me busy, is the restuarant meal and crocheting. That's right! Going out to a restaurant en masse, hooks or needles in hand depending on your fetish. I have been fascinated by the idea though.

Would it be best to use plarn so you can wash the food off easily?If you order spaghetti would you accidentally knit the noodles into your blanket?Would there be time and space to wield your hook, or is it really just a meal eaten by people who own a hook?JUST HOW IS POSSIBLE TO EAT AT A RESTAURANT AND CROCHET WITHOUT ALL KINDS OF DISASTERS???

Eating and Crocheting at Kojo Browns

So this week I finally went along to find out!

We met at Kojo Browns, a small restaurant in the Richmond area of Melbourne (not as posh as you're thinking if you're from the uk). When I got there I spotted my group straight away although I'd never met most of this particular set before. It's hard to miss that kind of sight.

I was surprised at first that the light wasn't great in there, and in fact there were candles! on the tables (candles and yarn!). The restaurant didn't seat more than about 40 or 50 people. The furnishings were old wood, kind of a rustic modern look. A long wooden bar ran down one side and there were a variety of smiling staff and wary diners. There was a guy at the front singing surprisingly well and at a volume that added to the atmosphere but still allowed for easy conversation. Kind of like a muted radio in the background.

At the point I walked in there were only about six others there, needles and hooks flying, yarns spilling over the table and intent discussions on just how these lovingly worked up pieces were supposed to join together to form the shawl in the picture.

I slipped into the next empty seat, pulled out my ripple blanket and got to work. The conversation flowed easily, everyone wanted to see what everyone else was doing, to offer admiration, encouragement and hints. To share the location of their favourite yarn shops and online patterns sites. From there the conversation gets more general but always cycles back around to the yarn.

We ordered food and drinks, the drinks we got straight away but the food was delayed for an hour to give us time to work. The laughter, conversation and yarn flowed merrily.

The evening was all too short, the food and atmosphere was great, other patrons eyed us warily but I'm sure some would have liked to join. There were about eighteen of us that evening and we shared some good stories, some yarn related, some not so much.